On January 14, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released its 2020 Review of Notorious Markets for Counterfeiting and Piracy, which says that about 2.5% of imports worldwide are counterfeit and pirated products.
The 2020 report identifies 39 online and 34 physical markets that engage in counterfeiting and copyright piracy. It also includes a section detailing the role of Internet platforms in facilitating the distribution of pirated goods, laying the responsibility for the problem at the feet of regulators and also blames e-commerce companies for lax action.
Interestingly, Amazon is cited in the report as a ‘Notorious Market.’ But consider that Amazon’s Fire TV streaming devices can be jailbroken (and books with instructions for doing so are available on Amazon). Amazon also owns the Twitch social video service, which can be used as a vehicle for rights infringement.
Read the 2020 Notorious Markets report
Read the US government press release
A comment period was provided to interested parties during 2020 and 53 media industry stakeholders contributed formal statements. Those comments are available online.
Why it matters
The Notorious Markets report is one of two benchmark reports about piracy published by the Office of the US Trade Representative, which is within the Executive Branch of the US Government.
The other is the Special 301 report, which is named after Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. §2411); a statutory framework under which the “US imposes sanctions on foreign countries that violate US trade agreements.”
